1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laminated materials. More particularly, the present invention relates to interlocked laminated materials having decorative motifs and surface textures that are mechanically embossed in registration.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Because of their look and feel, traditional building and finishing materials, such as fine woods, slate, granite, stones, brick, and concrete are generally preferred by consumers. However, such traditional building and finishing materials tend to be expensive to produce and to install. For example, while a solid wood floor has a highly valued luxury appearance, in practice the materials and labor required to install such floors can be prohibitively expensive.
There are many alternatives to traditional building and finishing materials, including laminates and high-pressure laminate boards (HPL). However, in general such alternatives do not possess the realistic look and texture of the traditional building and finishing materials. For example, most alternatives having an outer surface with a wood motif look fake, and thus can readily be identified as something other than traditional wood. Furthermore, while high quality HPL boards may visually look like wood, their textures readily reveal that they are not.
One problem with most alternatives to traditional building and finishing materials is that their surface textures do not match their decorative motifs. For example, a visual depiction of a wood knot does not match the surface texture characteristics of a wood knot. This significantly reduces the attractiveness of the alternative to consumers.
As an alternative to the traditional building and finishing materials it is known to mechanical emboss laminated materials to produce a surface texture, reference U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/903,807 and 09/460,117. Those applications are hereby incorporated by reference. Such methods produce embossed-in-register laminated materials having decorative motifs and matching high-quality three-dimensional textures. Embossed-in-register laminated materials require accurate registration of mechanical embossment and the decorative motif. An advantage of embossed-in-register laminated materials is that they can realistically reproduce the look and feel of traditional products.
No matter what type of building product is used it is important that the product be easy to move to a work site and that the product can be easily and quickly installed. To this end it is known to incorporate assembly and locking mechanisms to aid on-site installation. One type of assembly and locking mechanism is the conventional tongue and groove system commonly used for connecting panels. Such tongue and groove systems are disclosed in Cherry, U.S. Pat. No. 2,057,135, and in Urbain, U.S. Pat. No. 2,046,593. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates a tongue and groove system 11 that uses clips 12 to secure panels together.
Another type of assembly and locking mechanism is disclosed in Chevaux, U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,529. In that approach, a flooring system 13 is connected using a tongue and groove system arranged underneath the flooring, reference FIG. 2.
Still another assembly and locking mechanism is taught in Kajiwara, U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,341. There, laminated boards are provided with a snap-together system such as a groove-tongue joint. As a result the laminated boards can be assembled without glue. Referring to FIG. 3, the laminated boards are provided with a locking means in the form of a groove connector 16, and a tongue connector 18. The groove connector 16 has forwardly protruding grooves 20, while the tongue 18 is provided with a pair of forwardly diverging sidewalls 22 and 24 that are separated by an elongated groove 26. The sidewalls include rear locking surfaces 28 and 36. The sidewalls can be compressed together to enable locking.
Another type of assembly-and locking mechanism is the snap-together joint disclosed in Martensson, U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,778. As shown in FIG. 4, laminated boards are provided with a locking means comprised of a groove 6 and a tongue 7 that form a tongue-groove assembly. The groove 6 and tongue 7 may be made of water tight material and snapped together with a portion 9 fitting in a slot 4.
While the prior art assembly and locking mechanisms have proven useful, they have not been used with embossed-in-register laminate systems in which embossed-in-register decorative motifs or graphics align across joints between the individual embossed-in-register laminates. This significantly detracts from the visual and textural impression of systems comprised of embossed-in-register laminate boards. Therefore, a new embossed-in-register laminate system in which the visual and textural patterns cross joints while retaining the embossed-in-register aspects would be beneficial. Even more beneficial would be an embossed-in-register laminate system comprised of interlocking embossed-in-register laminate boards in which the visual and textural patterns cross joints while retaining embossed-in-register aspects would be beneficial.
Accordingly, the principles of the present invention are directed to embossed-in-registered laminate systems that overcome one or more of the limitations and disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, the principles of the present invention provide for embossed-in-registered laminate systems in which embossed-in-register decorative motifs or graphics align across joints between individual embossed-in-registered laminates. Such enables a more realistic flooring or panel system and solves one or more of the problems of the prior art.
The principles of the present invention further provide for embossed-in-registered laminate systems in which interlocked embossed-in-register laminates havet decorative motifs or graphics hat align across joints between individual embossed-in-registered laminates. Such enables a more realistic flooring or panel system and solves one or more of the problems of the prior art.
The principles of the present invention further provide for embossed-in-registered laminates such that when the embossed-in-registered laminates are arranged into an embossed-in-registered laminate system in which the decorative motifs align across joints to form continuous patterns.
To achieve these and other advantages, and in accord with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, an embossed-in-registration laminate system comprising a first board having a first embossed-in-register pattern and a first locking part; and a second board having a second embossed-in-register pattern and a second locking part; wherein said first and second boards can be arranged together such that said first and second locking parts securely join said first and second boards together into an embossed-in-register board system. Beneficially, the-first and second boards join-such that the first and second embossed-in-register patterns form an embossed-in-register system pattern that crosses a joint between the first and second boards.
In another aspect of the present invention, a first board having an embossed-in-register tile decorative motiff and a first locking part, and a second board having an embossed-in-register tile decorative motiff and a second locking part form an embossed-in-registered board system in which the first and second locking parts are mated and in which the tile decorative motif continues uninterrupted across the mating joint. Beneficially, the separation between tile decorative motifs in a first direction is substantially the same as the separation between tiles decorative motifs in a second direction. Furthermore, the separation between tiles decorative motifs across the mating joint is substantially the same as the separation between tile decorative motifs in the first direction.
In another aspect of the present invention, a first board having an embossed-in-register wood grain decorative motiff and a first locking part, and a second board having an embossed-in-register wood grain decorative motiff and a second locking part form an embossed-in-registered board system in which the first and second locking parts are mated and in which the wood grain decorative motif continues uninterrupted across the mating joint.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.